Charming like a father
by xPheebsx
Summary: Set during the season 3 finale, Emma is going after Regina, trying to explain herself. What will happen during and after the conversation? [Swan Queen]
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone!**

**I just wanted to show one of my ideas of what happen next after all this drama at Granny's. I hope i'll continue this, but i have no idea what will happen.**

**Also forgive me all my grammar and vocabulary mistakes - if you find anything, i would be very grateful if you could point it to me. Thanks!**

„ You're just like your mother. Never thinking of consequences" Regina's voice faltered slightly, however she tried to control her emotions blinking a few times, to get rid of the tears still coming to her eyes. She stood motionless throwing a cold look toward the startled blonde, who had no idea how much harm she caused.

"I didn't know…" Stammered after the moment, not knowing what else she could add.

If she knew that this women she saved is Roland's mother and Robin's beloved, she certainly not put her friend in this situation, breaking her heart by reunion of old lovers.

"Of course you didn't. Well you just better hope the hell you didn't bring anything else back" Snapped the brunette, still not breaking eye contact. She snorted with contempt and then turned on her heel, and headed toward the exit door.

Robin tried to stop her before leaving, but Marion had time to stop him by giving him a hand squeeze to understand that now she definitely need time alone. Man could only stand and watch her with eyes full of sorrow.

Rest people gathered in the Granny's stood rooted in the spot, slowly trying to understand everything that had just happened. They didn't really know what was just about and everyone was whispering to other, trying to figure this out. Mary Margaret and David came to Emma, tried to lift her spirits and said something soothing by saying that it's not her fault and everyone in her place would have done exactly the same thing with saving life of an innocent person. The blonde wasn't going to listen of anything that all was saying. She pulled out of the hugs and hurried to run out of the pub to find, and talk with Regina.

"Regina!" She screamed, trying to catch up the woman.

The brunette, however had no any intention to stop. She speeded her steps and turned into a narrow side street, hoping for loss of the tail.

"Regina." Emma's voice spoke again somewhere behind her, this time slightly weaker and trembling. Finally, she managed to catch her and grab the wrist to force woman to stop herself.

"Swan, I don't want to talk with you, or anyone else. Take care of Hook." Regina croaked, nervously wiping her tears flowing down of cheeks. She avoided Emma's gaze, knowing that she already show too much weakness in a Granny's.

She felt betrayed, tricked by someone close to her, with who she was built a good relations for almost three years. She couldn't believe that pain with she had to dealt long time ago reappeared, compressing her chest. It took her so long to heal her heart after an incident with her mother and Snow White and now again the misery tore apart a wound what needed so much to scar over. What she deserved on such a fate? Why it is always was her to have to suffer and struggle with her weaknesses? Maybe this was her destiny, never find any happiness and true love. Everything had to be just a distant dream, appearing only for a moment, to be crashed like this small ant just wanting to live her life. Maybe it was meant to be.

"Look. I know that you probably hate me now, and only one what you think is that how to destroy me that I had to feel the same thing. But you have to understand my position." The blonde's quiet voice broke the brunette from lethargy, forcing to rise her foggy gaze. When she didn't stop her, or turn over, she continued "Imagine that I saw Marian totally helpless, locked in a dark cell, waiting for execution. When I managed to get out of there I could see her face full of hope and fear in the same time. She looked straight into my eyes and I had to listen that she has a little baby who is just orphaned by her. I couldn't ignore that, I couldn't let an innocent person die. Nobody deserves on such a fate…"

When she paused, looked at the tearful face of the brunette expecting harsh words and insults directed at her. She hoped that Regina cannot be completely carried by emotions and don't go back to old version of herself which she was a few years ago. She must now face her problems and try to solve them in a different way than killing or magic.

"There is a small rule if someone wants to go back in time. If it was on the agenda… "Began after a moment of silence. Her eyes changed a little bit and her face took a cold expression, even though to eyes still received more salty tears. A few second later she hissed "Never change anything, because it can have catastrophic consequences in the future."

The atmosphere between them almost immediately get colder and distance is increased, despite the fact that none of them moved even a step. Both facing each other, standing in the middle of narrow and dark street which only light from nearby lantern was shining from intersection with main road. Emma just opened her mouth to try again to explain the situation, but Regina raised her hand not letting her to say a word.

"No. I don't want to hear about it again how big knight in a shiny armor you are and save vulnerable princess from oppression. I know that it's hard to watch someone's death or not be able to do anything about that. But if you step back in time you have to follow some rules!" Regina's look could now cast a lighting, she was losing control on herself and she was full aware of that. She had enough. "What if this trumpet's death was a gate to your mother freedom? Maybe she had to die so Snow could live and you saved her?! You don't know what was going to happen next, but still you risk your life and more events for some… peasant?"

And here unfortunately brunette was right and Emma fully realized that. She hadn't thought about how big consequences she could suffer and what would happen if she acted differently. She perfectly knew how much effort took her and Killian to retrieve the ring and help Snow because she accidentally broke a stupid twig. She didn't know what to say, so many thoughts scrolled actually in her head that she not be able to catch any single one, to focus on. Sincerely regretted her decisions, however she couldn't torture herself what she could do, but she didn't. It happened and nothing will change it. She wanted to deny to Regina because she and Snow were still in Storybrooke which means that nothing so bad happened. Guess it was just only calm before the actual storm…

"I'm sorry… You know that I'd never intentionally let you suffer. This, what happened was totally spontaneous thing and I know that I made a mistake, but you can't let emotions to control yourself…"

"I can't lose control?! And who the hell are you, to tell me what I can, and what not! You ruined my chance for happiness! You cannot imagine how long I had to wait to find someone who I could trust and fully open! And you still have cheek to tell me about my emotions?!"

Her sudden outburst was so unexpected that Emma almost flinched seeing the fury in big, chocolate eyes of interlocutor. In a fit of anger she hit her open hand against the wall and small sparks of fire flew away from her hand. She was pissed off and this intrusive woman standing in front of her didn't help.

"Maybe it was meant to be… Maybe it wasn't your happiness, maybe it is close and still waiting for you…" The blonde mumbled putting hands into the front pocket of her trousers. She said this so quietly so Regina didn't hear because she knew that she shouldn't add fuel to the fire. She tried to appease her anger but she wasn't really sure if this kind of words will calm her down.

Unfortunately bad luck want it that sentence she is said reached the brunette ears. She bite the bullet again turning to face towards Miss Swan.

"Excuse me?"

„Oh, come on, maybe fairy dust made a mistake, maybe your true happiness is in front of you. You never know what might happen…"

She started to plunged herself. Yes, she was aware of this and yes she immediately began to regret her words. She took a deep breath waiting for reaction from her companion. And then she felt a sharp pain on her cheek. Surprised she looked up touching hit place with her fingertips. Regina was standing upright with pursed lips and eyebrows. She couldn't believe that she just been slapped!

"You didn't have to resort to blows." Started massaging painful spots. She didn't want to get into fight with a dark haired woman which clearly stood on a border. "I said what I thought. You should take my words into consideration.

Not passed another second when Regina swung her hand and pointed at the other cheek who this time again wasn't prepared to avoid the blow. With no intention of another hits she quickly reacted, grabbing Regina's hands to push her into a brick wall. She reached right arm closing her in an iron grip so she couldn't move. Standing now in a less distance than a few inches measuring the angry looks and breathing heavily.

"My dear… You know that there is such a thing as magic?" Regina smirked, waved her hand and a few second later Emma influenced by brunette's magic lifted off the ground to fall with a crash on a sidewalk. "You sometimes forgot, who has here a real power."

The blonde with a difficulty rose up slowly losing her patience.

"I think you're also forgetting about something…" When she stood in front of Regina straightened her arms directing their inner part towards the companion. Frowned, trying to focus as soon as possible to work quick. "I also have magic."

And the time of speaking last words blue beam of energy released from Emma's hand and sailed straight to the brunette throwing her back to hit the wall. After that it changed into the fog and evaporated and the blonde quickly reached to the woman, trapping her hands thus preventing the cast any spell.

"And now what? You're going to kill me?" Mocked, chocking because of the lack of air as Emma was squeezing her throat.

It would be the last thing Emma could do to Regina. She knew that the woman is now hurt and wants to do something which help her to release her anger. She only could try to delay her from this kind of ideas.

She slowed her embrace that brunette could easily breath, but didn't wait much longer she grabbed her collar and moving closer and not for obvious reasons her mouth touched the Regina's red lips. She had no idea what's gotten into her and pushed to do this but only one that she thought about was desire which with every second was growing becoming harder to bear. The air thickened around them and it could almost feel electrifying sparks leaping over their heads.

Dark haired from the beginning was going to escape and turns her head but hungry lips of Emma's was putting too much pressure on her so she couldn't break the kiss. Before she raised her hand to push this damn woman she realize that in fact she had expected entirely different feelings after a blonde. It seemed that dislike and disgust will force her to run away, but instead she didn't know why she could feel a slight tingling sensation in her stomach. She didn't broke the kiss which only forced Emma to take an opportunity and a moment later she could feel her tongue expertly swirling and encouraging common dance. She gently grabbed companion's hair this time completely giving up to a kiss.

Unfortunately their lust couldn't find a happy ending. Terrible cold appeared everywhere on the street surrounding both women by cool gust of wind. They at the beginning not noticing anything else except they not have taken too much on this sudden drop in temperature. Only small icicles invaded between them cutting the air with a whistling forcing both to kickback from each other.

"What the…" Emma didn't manage to finish. Blue cloud of steam wrapped her and soon after, she fell unconscious to the floor.

Regina with fear ran over to the blonde while trying to notice a figure standing near to her bathed in for. And then, after some time creature get closer revealing her face. Blue dress reaching the ground was moving gently reflecting the light. Long bound in a thick braid almost white hair fell gently on the right side of the heaving chest. The stranger slowly proceeded a few steps until she stopped, and on her pale face was appear gentle smile.

"Who are you?! And that you want!" She growled checking Emma while raising a hand which danced little flames.

The woman didn't answer at once silently watching the terrified brunette. When she finally decided to speak from her mouth left a soft voice "I need your help."


	2. Chapter 2

_**First, i wanted to thank all of you for interest in my fic, i appreciate it! This mean so much to me, so i'm really happy!**_

_**Also I know that i made a lot of verb and grammar mistakes but i'm trying to be better.**_

_**Thanks again and enjoy second chapter~**_

"My help?" Excuse me? Who the hell are you?!" Regina didn't want to play some games with someone who clearly wasn't from Storybrooke. Especially when she used her abilities to overpower Emma and now she was asking for a favors. Raised rised her hand and the flames leaping over significantly increased.

"Your Majesty, please. I have no intention to hurt anyone" Elsa started, rising her hands to calm down the dark haired woman. Unfortunately her gesture was too nervous and a moment bundles of ice flew away from them. They soared straight toward the brunette and then struck in front of her freezing sidewalk. The stranger took a step back covering both hands to stop any other actions.

"This is your way of showing that you don't want to harm anyone?" Regina raised an eyebrow finally straightening up to a standing position to be able to direct a ball of fire towards the blonde again speaking "And how do you know who I am?"

"No, no! Wait! You have to believe me! It's not me, I just sometimes can't control my powers completely and this is a consequences… I'm sorry" She answered hesitantly biting her lower lip. Seeing the woman raise her hand and a ball of fire dangerously close toward her, she quickly caught herself and straightened. "You know the person who locked me up for hundreds of years in the urn because of fear of their own safety. I need to find him to get my sister back."

The brunette lowered her hand as soon as she heard the last sentence spoken by the woman. Slowly she connected threads and after a while she realized that this strange had to get to the town together with Emma and Hook. But what person and what urn?

"Wait… Did the person who locked you up was none other than famous Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Do you know him? Is he here?" Surprised, she immediately began throwing questions at Regina wanting to get to the sister as soon as possible. She hoped that she would finally find her after so many years of separation. She was silently watching the brunette who tightened her hand thus getting rid of the fireball waiting for her to speak again.

"Indeed, I know him. But how can I be sure that you won't kill anyone? And what about Emma?" She pointed to the unconscious blone throwing a fierce glance at the woman.

Elsa only nodded and then approached the lying woman. She squatted in front of her and raised her hand above Emma's head focusing all attention on it. For a moment there was a blue glow which disappeared as quickly as it appeared. And finally Emma took a deep breath, opening her eyes wide.

"Hey…" Regina quickly followed to her, helping her up.

"What… What happened?" Emma croaked rubbing her forehead. She tried to remember how she lost consciousness, but the last thing she was able to recall was this terrible cold and then darkness. The darkness that engulfed her in its arms disabling her mentally and physically. She looked up at the brunette waiting for an answer when in the meantime she saw the stranger standing a few foots away. Immediately she jumped up on feet, and ignoring the dizziness in her head she covered her companion with her own body.

"Emma, relax. You're still a little bit weak, you can't stand up so rapidly." Regina's calming tone reached her ears but she didn't move still looking at woman standing in front of them.

"How much longer are you going to just stand here like this and judge me? I have to find my sister and every minute is important." The white haired woman shifted her weight from foot to foot getting slightly impatient. Saving her sister was her priority and she realized that the longer she delayed, the slimmer the chances of finding her would get. Intuition was telling her that it didn't mean anything good.

"We don't even know if Rumple has any idea what happened to your sister. I assume that it's been a while since he put you in some urn…" The brunette muttered still holding up Emma who needed to gain more strength. Seeing her confused expression she quickly added "Yes, you brought her here breaking the rules. Maybe that you will teach you how to follow specific commands."

Emma ignored the mean jeer, trying to catch the balance on her own. Still she was a little bit dazed of this weird magic, so sometimes her vision was a little blurred. And who the hell was that woman in a strange dress?! She reminded her of someone from fairy tales… Wait… "Elsa? You're Elsa?"

"I don't remember introducing myself, but yes, it's me." She looked at the blonde with a gaze waiting for clarification.

Emma shook her head in disbelief, unable to believe that a character from a tale which she had watched with Henry in New York was standing in front of her and asking for help. Yeah, she already met a lot of characters from stories and she shouldn't be surprised but still, she couldn't take her eyes off the woman. She looked at Regina trying to find words of cheer but instead events from a few minutes before hit her like a lightning. Immediately an image appeared in front of her eyes: full lips with a little scar above the upper lip that hungrily kissed. That was too much.

"Emma?" Regina's voice reached her vaguely. She tried to answer her but her voice wouldn't come out of her throat. A moment later darkness surrounded her from all the sides until she completely lost consciousness.

When she managed to wake up she felt she was lying on something soft and there was something wet on her forehead. She could hear a few voices from distance but she wasn't able to recognize their owners. So instead she tried to open her eyes. Heavy eyelids caused small difficulty but finally they gave up. She creased her forehead feeling a slight pain escalating with her every movement. But this time she was able to recognize the room where she was. She tried to support herself on the elbows to see who was sitting in the kitchen of the small apartment but her attempts came to nothing so she fell back on the pillow. She exhaled, searching for a cause of her poor health which proved extremely difficult to find.

"I think she woke up." Snow's voice reached her ears and then she was able to see the pixie- haired woman bending over her bed with concern. "Honey? Can you hear me?"

She wanted to reply, provide that everything is fine, but when she opened her mouth only a quiet rasp pulled out of them. She sighed and nodded to her mother suddenly feeling dryness in her throat.

Snow stepped back to ask David to bring a glass of water and in her place showed Henry looking at her carefully. He sat on the edge of the bed and asked softly "Are you okay?"

Emma wasn't able to answer and not only because she was extremely thirsty. She felt like her heart ached at the sight of the sad kid worrying of his mother's health. Trying not to show a moment of weakness she reached out her hand and squeezed the boy's, showing him that everything will be fine. A moment later Snow returned with a glass, carefully giving her the drink.

"How did I get here?" As soon as she drank a gulp she got her voice back and not waiting for anything she asked.

"Regina. She teleported you here, said that you lost consciousness, and then she left explaining something with important issues. Do you know what is happening?" The woman took the glass from Emma waiting for a response.

The blonde rose up with difficulty, took of her legs on the wooden floor and began to put on her shoes. Her parents and Henry stood for a moment in silence with surprised faces.

"I need to go. I have to find Regina." She mumbled, zipping up the boots.

"Wait, you can't just go out, we need to make sure that you're okay" David paused in the doorway trying to stop her daughter but she wasn't going to wait.

"I'm fine, Regina could be in trouble. I will be back soon!" She shouted back, hurriedly leaving the apartment.

Following her intuition, she headed to 's store hoping that she will find the character from another world there. She had no idea what to do, but she knew that finding Elsa's sister was the most important thing at the moment. She hastily reached into the trousers' pocket to check the time. She didn't know how much time had passed since her return from the Enchanted Forest and then the meeting at Granny's. The phone screen showed 11:34pm. She cursed loudly, finally seeing the shop from at distance. When she reached the place she could only kiss the lock because the room was dark and the door locked. Again she pulled out the phone to dial Regina's number.

"Regina? Where are you?" She asked when the other woman picked up after a few signals.

"We went looking for Gold but he's nowhere. We're heading to the library. Everything okay?"

"Y-yes, I will be there soon, I'm around." Emma said shortly and walked along the road. She was surprised by Regina's care for her health. Especially after what happened a while ago. She didn't have time to think because before she could run up to the place a huge wave of cold swept through the area leaving the street covered with ice. "What the…?"

A moment later around the corner showed Gold, hurriedly withdrawing from Elsa, who walked in his direction with a jammed expression on her face. They were followed by Regina who was trying to take control of the situation. And further in a safer distance ran Belle glancing with fear between her lover and the stranger. For the first time she could see anxiety on Rumpelstiltskin's face. Not fear but anxiety. Could he be afraid of Elsa? Since when The Dark One is afraid of anything?

"I don't want to repeat myself! Where is Anna?" The white-haired woman was losing control of herself and the walkaway around was turning into ice with her every movement.

"I told you, dearie. I have no idea where she is. Calm down because obviously you still can't take control over your powers."

The atmosphere between them was getting more and more tense. Emma finally decided to step in since she had no intention to witness at magical fight between two powerful beings. She stood a few feet against Gold turning towards Elsa.

"Enough. We will not arrange the interview room or fight with each other" She said, keeping the woman out of sight. She looked at Elsa with determination, not showing any hesitation. She didn't know her at all but she could guess what it felt like to have been stuck for so many years inside an urn having no idea what was happening to a family member. She herself spent all of her young years searching for her parents and trying to figure out who she really was. She never gave up though sometimes powerful doubts were attacking her. She knew how important family is, therefore she decided to find Elsa's sister though they just didn't have any clues where they could find her. That, however she couldn't tell her because she didn't want to cause in her anger and unimaginable grief. After several seconds when none of them spoke, she continued "We will find your sister, you have to believe me. You just need to calm down and try to control your emotions. No one wants a bloodshed.

When she finished, Gold laughed. She heard his footsteps until he stood besides her leaning on his cane. An almost ironic smirk appeared on his lips and a moment later he said with a calm voice "There's a reason the Queen of Arandelle went to me asking for help with taming her abilities with-which clearly she couldn't cope. However there was no choice, we had to manage an with eternal winter which was brought by her negligent behavior and acting under the influence of emotions. I can see that you've learned nothing over these hundreds of years."

The last words were directed toward Elsa, who stood silently in front, gazing angrily at the man. She pursed her lips and she could only whisper to him "I asked you for help with my magic, not to lock me up in an urn for eternity…"

"I'm sick of it. Gold, you sneaky snake. You knew exactly what you could do, instead you chose to lock her up and separate her from sister. Everything from you has a price, let's face it. Did you hurt her? What did you do?" Regina's raised voice echoed around the area. "You know exactly that sooner or later we will find out the truth. You could make it easier for once."

This time the man smiled widely. "Anna is doing well. She lives here, in Storybrooke. You, Madam Mayor should know that, it is you who created this town. I can't tell you more, I'm sorry. Oh, and I'm not the only one, who locked someone up."

He turned on his heel and strode slowly toward a car parked on the opposite side of the street. He opened the passenger door and turned back to Belle, who was still standing motionless a few feet away. With a head gesture he encouraged her to take a seat, and a moment later he walked around the car and sit behind the wheel. The brown-haired woman quickly joined him, closing the door behind. Gold fired the engine and slowly drove away as if nothing had happened, leaving the women on the street.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay. Finally chapter 3. It's a little bit shorter than the previous but i hope next chapters will be longer. I just wanted to point out that it's not only the story about SQ but also about whole Frozen thing. So don't be mad at me - Regina/Emma relationship will be slow burning ;)  
****Thank you for the positive feedback, i really appreciate it! xo, Pheebs**

All three of them stood motionless for a moment as if waiting for a sign which would tell them what they should do. Emma, though determined to help find Elsa's sister, was skeptical about the matter. If Anna was living somewhere in Storybrooke, Regina would surely have known about that since she was the mayor and created this town. It was impossible that she had flowed from another land like Ariel or Hook. Unless some magic bean survived… But what if Gold was lying and he knew more than he was able to reveal?

"I will not give up until I find Anna. If she is here somewhere, for sure we will find her." Elsa's voice pulled Emma out of thoughts. She lifted her head, silently watching the woman walking in the middle of the street.

"This is ridiculous! We don't know what Gold is hiding and now we are stuck on the road in the middle of the night waiting for a miracle! I don't know what about you two but after all of this I would rather get some sleep and clear my mind."

Regina had no intention to run around the town under the cover of moonlight searching for a missing girl. Without a word she passed Emma and headed to Mifflin Street 108.

"Wait! What about her?" Emma ran to Regina equating to her step and walking next to her. "There's no place for her to stay and in this clothes she will arouse suspicion from residents."

Hearing the conversation, Elsa stopped and turned toward them. They were right, she had to admit. Acting in the night wasn't a good idea. She had to gather some strength to be able to find her sister the next day.

The brunette sighed and waved her hand and a moment later the white haired woman was standing there dressed in simple jeans and a blue shirt.

"Done. I think now she will blend into the crowd. Now it's your turn. Find her a place to sleep." She cut and walked away.

Elsa was watching the clothes, confused. She definitely wasn't used to wearing pants so she was barely able to do any steps without doing weird moves. Emma sighed and put a hand on a woman's shoulder trying to cheer her up. "Easy. Tomorrow we will dress you more… properly. Come on. You will stay at Granny's, you will have your own bed and breakfast in the morning. Try not to talk to anyone and avoid using magic and everything should be okay."

* * *

The blonde passed three stairs and reached a massive white door. She knocked hesitantly, waiting for an answer. The door finally opened and the woman standing in the doorway looked at Emma expecting an explanation.

"I introduced her to Granny's. I promised that tomorrow morning we will take up on searching." She started nervously biting her lip and taking time to avoid more significant topic that she wanted to talk about.

"That's good. Shouldn't you be with your parents? They may be worried, especially Snow…" Regina also didn't want to talk about this particular thing from a few hours. Both of them perfectly knew that they should explain it but none of them wanted to start.

"Nah. I called her, she knows that I'm here." She exhaled preparing for the worst "Look… Speaking of that…"

"I don't think there is anything to talk about." The brunette said shortly crossing her arms. "It was a mistake which shouldn't have happened. I think it will be the best to forget that. Like it never happened."

Deep down, Regina knew that she wouldn't want to forget it. It was hard to admit it, even to herself. So she was stubbornly convincing herself that it shouldn't have happened. She tried to deny it to herself, she thought that this way everything would be back to normal. She had no idea what Emma thought about all of this but she assumed she felt the same as her.

She added quickly "We have much more important things to do. We need to take care of Elsa and her sister. This you should think of, Miss Swan."

And again she returned to calling her formally. Emma sighed heavily and only nodded, not wanting to fight or anything. She wasn't sure if her voice wouldn't break while speaking again. Regina was right. Both of them should forget about it. She knew that it might be really hard because she had reason to get carried away with emotions. Especially because when she kissed Regina, she felt it was true. She could feel this warmth. She shook her head trying to get rid of those irritating thoughts. She lifted her gaze and her eyes met the brunette's dark eyes. And again, this growing tension between them with every passing moment. What was happening to her? Why was she beginning to feel so strange in the presence of this woman? She had to end this as soon as possible.

"Anyway, I hope you will not hate me again…" She laughed nervously, trying to loosen the atmosphere. "I'd better go, you would probably like to get some sleep. Ugh… Good night."

She waved her hand goodbye and turned to direct her steps towards the yellow bug parked in the driveway. Regina silently watched the blonde gets into the car and drive away. She had a little hope that their conversation would roll up in a slightly different direction. Unfortunately it hadn't happened. She withdrew into the house and closed the door behind her.

* * *

The buzz from a ringing mobile phone broke her from sleep and forced her to open her sleepy eyes. She took a single blond strand of hair from her face and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Emma? This stranger which you brought yesterday just left her room and without any word she went out on the street. She hasn't come back so I thought I would let you know." Ruby's panicked voice said from the other side of the line. And thanks to her the blonde was awoken completely and quickly glanced at her watch.

"Shit. I overslept… Thanks Rubs! I will look for her!" She cursed and took off her phone as soon as she jumped from the bed. She grabbed fresh clothes and ran to the bathroom to take a shower.

When she came downstairs she didn't find any living soul in the room. A bit surprised, she headed to the closet to take out some cereals and milk from the fridge. Accidentally she noticed a small note left on the counter. The handwriting belonged to her mother, Snow, who was informing Emma that, together with David, Henry and little Neal, she went for a walk on the beach and next on Hook's ship because the kid wanted to see his new cabin. She rolled her eyes and started eating breakfast quickly. She hoped Elsa wouldn't meet someone or something which would make her scared or angry and make her powers came out.

Several minutes after leaving the apartment she was able to get to the driveway in front of Regina's house. She noticed Rumpelstiltskin who was going in the same direction.

"Miss Swan. What a lovely surprise. I'm glad that I found you." The man smiled faintly looking at Emma with his penetrating glance.

The blonde raised an eyebrow but she didn't have time to answer because the door of the mansion opened and Regina showed up at the doorway. With a quick step she approached the two guests, not having a cheerful face.

"I just got a phone call that we're terrorized and the streets are covered in ice. Swan, you said you could take care of her. I thought you could handle this" She said crossing her arms. She nodded at Gold but her gaze was still on the woman.

"I didn't think was going to leave her room in the morning and go explore the city! We need to find her before she does something way worse."

"Actually, this is why I came here." Gold interjected and thecorners of his mouth twitched again." I'm afraid I know where she could go."

Both woman glanced at him waiting for an answer.

"The forest. Since the moment Elsa escaped from the portal, the whole area changed literally in a blink of an eye. The trees on the other side are covered with snow even though it's summer here. It's seems to me that except our 'friend' someone else could get to Storybrooke with her…"

Emma tried to recall the exact path that led back to the big barn. She stared at the man impassively until she lost track of time at some point. The words reached her ears like from the depths of a cave. Pressure throbbed in her head and she wasn't able to focus any longer.

"Emma?" When she thought she would lose her consciousness Regina's voice brought her back to reality. She shook her head and everything was back to normal. She lifted her eyes and looked up at the brunette who was staring at her with concern.

"I'm sorry, for a moment I was a little bit dizzy. It must be because of this weather." She shrugged, trying to stay normal not to get more attention at her. Not wishing to be investigated, she quickly glanced at the Gold "Then I will go there. Maybe I will get there before Elsa and I will check the whole area."

The man nodded and then as if nothing had happened, he turned and went away. Regina stood in silence for a moment but she didn't want to wait more time. She pulled out a phone from her jacket and started to dial at number.

"Who are you calling?" Emma leaned over her, peering into the phone with = curiosity.

"I will not let you go alone. You don't know what could be there." She muttered, applying the cell to her ear.

"Wait! I don't need an escort from a one handed pirate or a guy shooting bow and arrow who has a nervous breakdown. I can take care of myself."

Regina only snorted, waiting for someone who finally decided to pick up the phone.

"Henry? No, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask you to tell David that me and Emma are heading up to the barn where the portal appeared. Excuse me? No, no, I wanted him to join us, just in case. Thank you, love you!"

Emma stood silently next to the woman listening, to the conversation. She was a little bit surprised with that turn of events. She didn't think Regina would be the person who wanted to be her company on the way to the place. She thought she would prefer to avoid contact with her because of the talk from the previous day and it seemed it was quite the opposite. Maybe she wanted to show her this way that she could move on and really forget about everything that had taken place after the Granny's drama. So now their friendship would look like this? Intentionally avoiding certain topics and pretending that everything is just fine? Theoretically, this game seemed like a reasonable thing but would both of them be okay with this in the long run?

"Good. So let's go. I hope you haven't forgotten how to use your powers." Regina snatched her from thinking, smiling ironically." Hold on to me. We're not going to waste our time for pointless walking."

The blonde looked at Regina with surprise but she didn't say any word. She knew the brunette would be satisfied with her comment but she didn't care. She sighed and grabbed the woman's arm not really knowing what to expect from moving by magic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here we go with chapter 4! I hope you will like it and if you have any doubts about something- i'm sure you will find answers in the next chapters ;)**  
**Oh, and i wanted to say i'm sorry if the chapters are added at different time intervals. First i need to translate the whole chapter and then send it to my lovely beta, who checking all the mistakes and then i can finally add the story here. Sooo, yeah. Don't be mad at me.  
Enjoy! xo, Pheebs**

Thick purple smoke disturbed the peace and silence that prevailed on the little green glade, right on the path towards the big barn. Shortly after two women showed up through the smoke - one calmly standing in the place and the other one trying to catch the balance. She gasped, watching the whole area with her eyes wide open.

"Whoa. That was… Intense. You could have warned me" Emma stammered, still unable to believe they had traveled such a long distance in less than a few seconds. She hadn't got used to travelling by magic so all the emotions she experienced were really big for her.

"You get used to it." Regina turned to the path and not waiting for the blonde woman she moved a step ahead.

With each step they were getting closer to the barn and the weather was showing them its whims. The temperature lowered widely, and the ground was filled with a small amount of snow. The unbearable silence could cause creeps and they couldn't even hear any birds that should be there since there was a dense forest nearby.

When they reached the big entrance, both of them stepped on the doorstep, carefully exploring the room and checking if there wasn't any danger inside. It was dark but there was no indication that someone is hidden somewhere. In the middle there was the circle which hadn't disappeared since Zelena had been trying to cast the curse and go back in time. In some places there were stuck a small pieces of something that had to have been completely frozen before.

"What do you think? What was that?" Emma said, slowly approaching the remains, then squatted next to them to look at them closely.

The brunette walked a few steps closer, looking around. She didn't answer the blonde who opened her mouth to express her indignation. Regina immediately raised her hand, stopping Emma from speaking. Something wasn't right, she could sense it but she wasn't able to say precisely what it was. She stood for a couple of minutes waiting for any action but nothing unusual happened. She nodded to Emma, silently telling her to follow. And then she felt that overwhelming cold which suddenly began to invade under the clothes.

"What is happening?!" The blonde covered her face with her hands, trying to outshout the gale which raged for good in a few seconds.

Not waiting for another wave of cold, Regina grabbed Emma's arm and ran from the building, leading her on the edge of the path towards the border with the forest on the opposite side where there was less snow. When they finally managed to escape from the cold and wind they could finally stop to catch their breath. The blonde ran her hand through the tousled hair and almost cried with nervousness.

"Fuck. What was that? Have you seen this?! Of course you did. I cannot believe my eyes!"

"Miss Swan, I realize you can't keep your emotions and tongue on check but I would be careful." The brunette gave Emma a stern look. "I don't think that was Elsa, especially since we didn't see anyone. I think Gold was right. We have a guest who also can play with snowmen."

Emma frowned, hearing how Regina talk about some playing with snowmen but she stayed calm, not wanting to have a fight. She lifted her gaze at the same time as David emerged from the trees, his sword draped at his waist. He quickly approached the two women and seeing their rapid breathing and uncertain glances he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm guessing you already have been in this barn" He said, looking around with curiosity. He hadn't seen any snow here before and now, wherever he looked he could see the white fluff glossing in the sun.

"We have a visitor who doesn't like to have company." Regina shrugged, wondering how they could lure the intruder from their safe place into the open space. "I think we need Rumpelstiltskin here."

* * *

_A few hours earlier._

A small girl gently walked on the snowy grass, wrapping up with a purple cloak which was thrown on her back. A small cloud of steam came up from her mouth and slightly reddened nose and cheeks were decorated with tiny freckles. With each step the trees were becoming more thickened, hindering and slowing her passage but she was still going forward guided by some strange feeling. She pulled the thick braids off off from her face and felt to a huge relief when the sunlight finally reached her posture, and the trees gave way to huge meadow covered with white snow. She smiled to herself and moved forward, still being unconsciously led to that place. However, she didn't have thoughts - where it came from and why it forced her to leave her house and walk such a big distance to that glade. When she finally reached the center, a soft gust of wind flew through the area. A little flock of ravens soared from the nearby trees while the wind strengthened, ruffling the girl's coat. Her curiosity and courage disappeared if touched with a magic wand, giving way to fear and anxiety. And she finally saw her.

She was slowly walking across, taking every step with considerable grace and causing chills at the same time. A long, trailing dress glided through the snow, having the same white color and if wasn't for the sparkling sequins in the snow it would have been hard to notice the train. The woman who was the owner of that stunning dress had bright hair tied in a high bun, from which single strands of hair were gently falling onto the pale, emotionless face. The eyes in the icy blue color were directed at the girl, who wasn't able to move. She was standing speechless, admiring the beauty of the stranger. She didn't look like at resident of Storybrooke at all. More! She didn't even look like at real woman! Was that even possible?

"Sweet child… I can see you have made a lot of effort to get here. I'm extremely grateful that you are still standing here. Aren't you afraid of me?" The creature finally spoke and her voice sounded clearly like a crystal tear.

The redhead shuddered when the voice reached her ears. At first, she was silent, afraid to speak so as not to destroy that perfect moment. She was completely mesmerized by the woman and she had no idea what to say and even how to open her mouth!

"Oh, dear. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you." The woman moved and despite the fact she was approaching the girl, she still stood enchanted.

She stopped right in front of her and raised her hand, almost imperceptibly stroking her hair. The red haired girl felt cold emanating from the woman and she rallied for the moment, slowly coming to her senses. She started to realize she isn't safe here and she should get away from the stranger as soon as possible. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that no matter how hard she would try, she had no chance of escaping.

She stepped back, looking straight in the blue eyes. She didn't see any emotion in them, no joy, anger or sadness. The only thing she could see was indifference. Indifference, which terrified and aroused creeps on her back.

She screamed and turned away to throw herself to escape. But it was too late.

* * *

_Present Time._

"I'm not going to enter there for the third time. I'm not going to freeze and be stuck here forever." Regina, Emma and her father moved away from the barn again, avoiding the freezing wind attacking them as soon as they set their foots on the entrance. "I told you. We need Gold."

"We don't know where he is, apparently you two had a fight with him yesterday." The man looked at them, hoping for an explanation of everything that had happened the day before.

The blonde winced slightly, unable to understand what exactly was in this damn barn that didn't allow them to get inside. Maybe Elsa came up with some protective spell to keep an eye on the place when she appeared in Storybrooke? She had so many questions but her thoughts couldn't find any rational way out each time. She wasn't listening to the conversation between David and Regina, instead she directed her steps toward the big building again. She walked carefully, getting ready for another portion of icy blast and swirling snowflakes. She ignored the brunette's raised voice commanding her to stop, she ignored her father asking for not stepping inside too. She was too determined and she was going to find out what was behind those nasty winds.

She slowly passed the doorstep, lifting her hand to shield her face from the zephyr which she was excpecting at any moment. She waited a few seconds but nothing happened. The barn looked quite ordinary, no signs of snow, ice or strange wind. Weird. Was that a trick? Or something?

"Um, guys…?! I think you need to see this…" Emma cried, looking around.

Before she could hear any reaction she felt a dull headache again and next she lost visual acuity. She swayed and quickly supported herself on the bar not to fall. However, everything quickly passed when Regina and David crossed the threshold of the barn. The wind picked up almost immediately and started to jerk clothes, forcing everyone to leave the barn.

"I'm guessing that this 'something' didn't want to let YOU inside…" Emma fell on the snow, breathing heavily. "When I walked in, everything was so quiet and normal."

All of that became more and more twisted. Why would the barn choose who it wanted to let in and who not? This time they really needed to find a Gold and then Elsa to find out the truth. As soon as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I shoud definitely write longer chapters but well... I'm not sure why i can't. But hey! I'm trying to! ;)  
In this chapter there is nothing exciting or something but i needed to show something more... static. If you know what i mean. Anyway, hope you'll like it! xo, Pheebs**_

The Charming family gathered at Granny's along with the other residents to discuss the whole situation related to the uninvited guest and snow near the large barn. All of them sat down at the table to which they moved additional chairs for everyone to have everybody else in sight. Regina silently took a chair next to Henry, watching Hook move closer to Emma and whisper something in her ear. She didn't like the fact that the one-handed pirate was attempting to woo the blonde in such a course way, not quite bothered by the rest of the company. While Snow, David and Grumpy were busy with a conversation about completely uninteresting topics, Regina kept her eyes onthe chattering pair. She found herself trying to eavesdrop what they were talking about but it was too loud to catch single words.

She sighed, taking a cup of hot tea which Ruby served up to all a couple of minutes before. Why did she care about Emma's life and her relationships with men. It wasn't her business and she shouldn't worry about that. She knew it and that's what she was trying to tell herself, however the annoying thoughts forced her to cast furtive glances to the chairs on the opposite side all the time.

"Mum?" The quiet voice somewhere from the right forced Regina to look elsewhere.

The brunette turned her head and her eyes fell on the boy sitting next to her. He stared at her with a worried expression.

"Are you okay? Did you and Emma have a fight again?"

He had hushed voice and was leaning towards the woman so that no one else could hear his question. The boy was a good observer, especially when it came to his mothers who had a tendency to cause fights and quarrels. So she wasn't surprised that he asked a question like this since she was watching the blonde all the time.

"Henry…" She smiled softly and putting a cup on the table she ruffled the boy's hair. "No. We didn't have any fight. Just… I'm still thinking about this barn, why it let Emma go inside. Even Gold doesn't seem to know that.

Saying this, she lifted her head for a moment and her gaze fell on the man sitting in the corner by the window. Belle stroked his hands, taking a seat next to him and he seemed to be lost in thoughts despite the loud uproar.

She looked at her son again, wondering if the boy guessed that something was wrong between her and Emma but this time it wasn't about any quarrel. He only shrugged and lowered his head to go back to some arcade game on his phone.

Everybody was trying to understand what had happened in the barn and why it acted so strange. Some people, like Grumpy, were still coming back to the topic of Elsa, who supposedly froze an entire street the day before. But neither Regina, Emma or Charmings were really concerned about the white-haired woman's actions. For them it was more important to find her and her sister right then.

"Okay, let's put this barn case off for later. I think what's more important now is Elsa and her sister, Anna who we should start looking for. " David said, silencing the rest of the people. He straightened up and glanced along the table. "For sure nobody knows if Anna lives somewhere in Storybrooke?"

Silence. No one was willing to answer. No one had any clue who that girl was and where she could live. Even Gold was silent but Regina still had a feeling that the man was hiding something. If this would be true, they would find out sooner or later anyway.

"Why don't we just use some tracking spell? I don't know, some magic potion or something like that?" Emma finally broke the awkward silence. The blonde looked up at Gold and then at Regina, waiting for some good answer.

"Theoretically we can but we would need anything belonging to her.A lock of hair or something similar." The man with medium height hair shifted in his chair, raising his eyebrows.

Emma stayed silent. She knew they didn't have anything that could help them to track the missing ones so she nodded her head, biting her lower lip. How was it possible that in such a small town they couldn't find two people who stood out from the crowd?

Perhaps all the answers were hidden in that unfortunate barn and they had to arrange a trip to that area again to find out the truth. It seemed since Anna was in Storybrooke earlier, she should look like the rest of the residents. Yet Storybrooke wasn't very big, so for sure there had to be someone who would know Anna and indicate the place where she lived.

"I don't want to interrupt, but… look out of the window." – Henry suddenly said and all of the eyes turned on him at first, until everybody turned their heads towards the window to which the boy was pointing.

Single snowflakes began to gall from the sky, falling lazily on the pavement. As soon as they touched the ground they dissolved, however more and more snowflakes appeared with every moment. They could see the temperature had also dropped because the people passing the pub were releasing a cloud of steam while breathing. Surprised people paused for the moment, craning their necks up to see what was happening and why the snow started to fall almost in the middle of summer. Over the next few minutes the landscape completely changed and the colors which now dominated outside were only white shades of fluff which had already covered whole streets. This weather anomaly definitely wasn't normal.

The brunette moved on her chair, staring at the falling snowflakes with growing concern. She has never had to deal with something like that and all the time she couldn't get rid of the obsessive thoughts that kept popping in her head and didn't want to let go. What if they weren't strong enough to defeat the danger waiting outside this time? She had the strange feeling that that time it wasn't something different. It was quite obvious that they weren't dealing with some flying monkeys or lost boys trying to abduct her son, but everything seemed really suspicious to herand she didn't like it. She clenched her hands into fists, listening to the raised voices of friends expressing their surprise and horror at the same time. She sighed and raised from her spot, heading towards the exit doors.

"Hey. Where're you going?"

The voice she heard before she could grab the door handle stopped her in half-step. She heard a moving chair and a moment later she twitched, feeling someone's hand on her arm.

"If you are going to deal on your own with this… something, then unfortunately I need to disappoint you but I'm compelled to help you."

Regina turned to face Emma, who was standing in front of her with a faint smile appearing on her face. She appreciated that since the things had changed and she had white magic, she could always count on the people who were close to her, but the blonde wasn't just any person. Regina wasn't able to talk freely to her after what had happened between the buildings the other night. She still had a picture of this scene in front of her eyes and even though she was trying to forget about it, she wasn't able to push Emma out of her head. And even she though clearly told her that kind of thing shouldn't have happened and both of them were supposed to forget about it quickly, she was tormented with weird stuff. Unfortunately it wasn't quite helpful.

"I appreciate your intentions but I think I can do it on my own." She finally said and her throat was so dry.

"Oh, come on. We all know that weather like this in Storybrooke, a strange woman with long dress or missing sister means only one thing – trouble. I will help you whether you want it or not. Besides, remember that this barn on the hill likes me." Emma shrugged and smiled uncertainly towards the brunette, hoping Regina wouldn't want to keep this conversation because she wuld not change her mind.

Regina sighed. She didn't have any chances of winning this argumentation with the blonde. She rolled her eyes and turned toward the exit. But before she could push the handle again she heard Snow's voice behind her.

"And you are going alone again…? It could be dangerous…" She spoke in a quiet voice, rocking little Neal in her arms.

"Everything will be okay. Try to calm down the residents with dad so that no one does anything stupid. And in the meantime we will look for our missing ones."

Having finished her sentence, Emma felt Hook's hand on her. He moved to the woman to force her to tilt up and kiss him. Seeing that, Regina rolled her eyes again and this time she left the dinner not waiting for the blonde, leaving a little bit confused guests.

* * *

The temperature could clearly be felt and the two women, after the long wandering along the streets, were beginning to feel the coldness penetrating through their clothes. They had intended to get through all of the snowy places in hopes that they would find any trace that could lead them to one of the sisters. For some time, they were walking in complete silence, not speaking to each other and keeping the tension in the air hoping that finally one of them would break the silence.

"So…" Emma said casually, not wanting to stick with the unbearable silence. "Have you heard, how's Robin and Roland? Have they spoken to you?"

Regina, not breaking the march, glanced briefly at the blonde, noticing that she was trying to be relaxed and not to look so damn curious.

"Only that they need some time. I mean Robin. He needs to discuss some things with Marion. Besides, I told him I'm not going to stand in the way his true love, especially since they share a child."

She didn't want to go deeper into that topic because it was still very painful for her. Whenever she remembered the scene from the dinner at Granny's, she could feel an unbearable pain in her chest. She knew she would have to deal with it because she had made it clear to Robin that she would not be able to live like that knowing that his wife and Roland's mother were living somewhere as if nothing had happened.

"I understand… You know, if you would like to talk about it or something, let me know, I would be glad to hear you out and help. Of course if you would want it." Emma gave the brunette a warm smile, hoping she would show her that she could count on her.

Regina almost laughed but she stopped herself on time and only threw a quick glance at the blonde.

"I think your mother would be better at this… old wives talk." She summed, turning into one of the smaller streets.

Emma followed the mayor, carefully looking around. When she made sure no one is there, she opened her mouth again with the intention of throwing Regina some riposte. However instead of a full sentence a scream and a loud hiss tore from her throat. A sharp headache appeared in such an unexpected moment that the blonde almost lost her balance and she had to catch the wall not to fall on the ground. She clenched her eyes and put a hand on her forehead, seeing only darkness for a moment. Regina's concerned voice reached her like from the depths of the ocean and unfortunately she wasn't able to catch the simple words, so she just stood there, leaning against the wall and holding her hands on her head. She didn't know how much time had passed since it began but she realized that it didn't mean anything good.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Okay. Firstly - big apologizes for long delay. I'm just dealing with finding a job and i have to go there and there... so i'm really sorry that you all had to wait for this chapter but i hope you still would like to read this ^^  
And i know, i know, there's a really small amount of SQ (like really SQ) for now but i can promise you - there will be everything in next chapters.**_

"Emma? Emma, wake up!" Regina was lying over the blonde who had already lost consciousness and unconsciously fallen on the sidewalk.

The whole situation lasted a couple of minutes, during which Emma had time to suffer from terrible headaches. A darkness in front of her eyes muddled her after a time and the woman passed out for a moment, losing control of her own body. Fortunately she managed to wake up a moment later and to her relief the shrill pain had passed. She opened her eyes hesitantly, and her eyes immediately fell on the brunette crouching next to her. She was holding her arm, anxiously watching every move of the blonde. When she noticed that Emma woke up, she took a deep breath and let it out with a whistle, feeling big relief.

"God, Miss Swan, have you lost your mind?! I didn't know what was happening because of you." Regina straightened up and held out her hand to help her companion stand up.

"Relax, everything is okay. I think I just have a migraine…"

"It didn't look like a normal migraine. We need to examine you." Regina didn't want to give up. Stretching out her hand, she put it on the blonde's forehead to check if she had a fever.

"I'm fine, I told you!" Emma took a step back, knocking Madam Mayor's hand.

She turned on her heel and briskly walked away, feeling she needed some time alone. She ignored the surprised woman and entered the first street in sight, not really knowing where she was going. She realized that those strange headaches and darkness in front of her eyes weren't something normal, but she didn't want to underestimate the problem and panic. They had enough problems, so they didn't need to add her symptoms of the disease to the list. She assumed at once that it was probably from overworking and it should pass as quickly as it had come. After all, what else could it be?

She was taking the steps dispassionately, turning in various small streets several times until she finally stopped to look ahead. She realized after a moment that she had gotten lost in the labyrinth of the streets and clearly, Regina hadn't followed her, apparently stating that it would be better to leave the blonde with her own thoughts. She cursed out loud and turned around to go back at the place she could recognize. It had been three years since she had come to Storybrooke but somehow she hadn't been especially interested in the small network of winding alleys.

She stepped back to one of the small intersections and looked around carefully. She tried to remember which was leading to the place she came from but she began to feel a headache again, although this time it was a little less noticeable. The snow had already completely covered the streets and sidewalks and the temperature seemed to still be decreasing. Emma wasn't going to stand by and wait until she froze, so she pulled out a phone from her pocket and started to look for Regina's number in her contacts. But before she could put the phone to her ear she saw a movement somewhere in the distance.

"Regina? Is that you?" She screamed, breaking the call.

Unfortunately, no one answered her. The sudden gusts of wind tore her hair, directing the snow on her face. Maybe she was hallucinating or it was because of these headaches? She couldn't excluded it. She walked forward slowly, keeping the alley in the sight, where she had noticed something. She heard only a breath of the wind, tugging her jacket but beside that – the silence became unbearable.

She was taking another steps in the snow, which had covered all the sidewalks completely, still heading forward. She just wanted to find any trace of Elsa or Anna which could provide that they are close and they can save them. Everything else took second place, without any meaning. Emma was a very stubborn person and she was perfectly aware of that, especially since her mother was exactly the same. At that moment it was definitely very helpful because she wasn't going to give up. But sometimes Emma was a person who was standing too firmly on the ground, which in Storybrooke caused trouble sometimes.

When she finally reached the end of the street she met a high wall and another buildings. She grimaced wryly, rebuking herself for her hallucinations. It had to have been a delusion, and that raging snowstorm didn't help with finding anything. Again, she reached to the pocket of her jeans, and stretching the phone she called Regina and she turned to try to get back to the place where she had come from. And then she almost let her phone of her hand.

A small girl grew like from the middle of the earth a few meters in front of her, standing motionless with a coat slung on her back. Two braids sticking out from under the big hood were covered with frost and she seemed to totally ignore it. The arms were freely drained at the sides of her body and she was holding her hand with the other hand. Seeing the surprise on the blonde's face, she tilted her head slightly and smiled innocently. She was still silent.

At first, Emma didn't know what to do, so she stood rooted to the spot, staring at the stranger with her mouth open. She lowered her hand, where she held her phone, completely forgetting that she had been trying to call Regina, who in the meantime had answered and was waiting for a response.

"Anna…?" Emma tried, watching the girl hesitantly. She wasn't sure what to expect but something was not right. However she preferred to abstain from hasty thoughts.

The girl smiled widely, revealing a row of teeth.

"We're similar to each other." She said finally, and her voice was soft and cheerful.

She didn't wait for Emma's reaction, turned around and ran ahead, laughing to herself.

"Hey! Wait!"

The blonde headed for the girl. She didn't dig at this point why she had said those words. She had to catch her, but the teenager was very fast and she had a good chance to escape. It wasn't normal behavior, something was wrong. Emma kept saying in her mind, trying not to lose this running away girl, though the chances of catching her were really small. In the end, after a couple of seconds, the redheaded girl stopped and turned toward the blonde, who had to stop rapidly not to fall on the younger woman. Making sure the stranger wasn't going to escape again, Emma relaxed, her eyes still not leaving the companion.

"Anna…?" She tried again, hoping for a more constructive response this time.

The teenager twitched and her face immediately changed, The cheerful smile faded from her face, which moment before was painted from ear to ear. Now her lips were curved in a sad grimace, and eyes were filled with tiny tears. She lifted her head, and her gaze meeting Emma's sight pierced her with an icy expression.

The blonde didn't know what to do. All the time she had this strange feeling that something is wrong and she should call for help, but she guessed that as soon as she does something suspicious for the girl, she will run again. She had to think fast.

"Hey… Is everything okay? Your name is Anna, right?" She said, taking a step forward.

The redhead nodded and in the next couple of seconds she turned and ran into the nearest street. Emma, not waiting long, followed her but as soon as she turned to the building she met a completely empty sidewalk. No sign of a living soul. And it was impossible, since the red haired woman had run onto that street a moment earlier! What had actually happened? She was sick and tired of chasing the strange girl so she finally stopped and held out a hand through her pocket to pull her phone.

"Regina?" She asked after a few calls." Where're you? Something weird is happening… And I think I just saw Elsa's sister… Huh? Yeah, I will go back to the place where we split up."

Not lingering any longer she turned, directing her steps along with the next street. She hoped that this time she wouldn't get lost and easily find her way back. She didn't' know how wrong she was, that the return in the middle of the snow blizzard would be extremely difficult and… interesting. The snow almost instantly thickened and cold wind forced Emma to pause and cover her eyes from ice and snow. "What this time!" She hissed, trying to see the road ahead not to fall, and at the same time taking next steps forward. After this, the weather immediately changed drastically and the air cleared up, being completely devoid of any snow and wind now. Before Emma had time to understand what had happened, a figure loomed a few meters in front of her, approaching the woman with every moment.

"Anna?" She didn't know who it was, but she assumed that the red haired teenager had decided to come back and cooperate.

However when she straightened up and looked more closely on the person walking from across the street, she could tell that it was someone else. The creature paused and smiled gently. That smile wasn't even a bit sincere and the owner wasn't really bothered if it was fake or not.

"Who are you?!" Emma screamed, reaching her hand behind her back in search of the weapon, realizing with horror that her gun probably was at the sheriff's station, and she was completely unarmed, not counting the magic that she supposedly could handle.

"I came after you, to take you to the place where you belong." The stranger finally spoke, the smile still not disappearing from her face.

"Excuse me? I think you have mistaken the person, whoever you are. I'm sorry, but I don't have time for any games"

Emma immediately retorted, trying not to lose cold blood and not to panic. She felt deep down that she could be in trouble but she couldn't show that because she would be doomed to failure. She had no idea who that creature was but she knew that the longer she had to deal with strange women and snow, the more she would hate the winter.

The dress of the stranger waved, and the wind gently touched the hair of the two women facing each other. The higher one finally reached her hand, directing the inner part upwards. She moved her fingers and a moment later above the hand a little blue, ice needles were dancing.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this, but you don't give me any choice. Your resistance would only be an unnecessary problem."

"What? What're you ta…" Emma didn't finish the sentence. Needles lifted up and at the moment when the woman waved the hand turning it toward the blonde, they soared straight at her, stabbing her straight in the chest.

At first she was too much in shock to be able to understand what had just happened. She screamed when she felt a sharp pain in chest when the ice struck her, passing through clothes. Penetrating cold spread throughout the body and she finally fell to her knees, unable to bear the pain any longer. She caught air with some difficulty, greedily catching small portions of oxygen because if she took a deeper breath, the tightness in her chest would be unbearable. Her face twisted with a grimace of suffering but she was able to lift her head and look at the woman, dressed in a trailing white gown, who step by step was slowly approaching the blonde kneeling in the snow. Her lips, still twisted in an emotionless smile, piercing gaze and that raised hand, above which tiny icicles of ice bounced happily. The whole thing could cause shivers in the body but Emma was too weak with to be able to react. She could only observe the actions of the stranger who seemed be enjoying the view of suffering. Her body began to tremble with cold and she wasn't sure what was worse – the overwhelming coolness or the stinging in her chest. She knew that probably both in a short time will do their job and will finish her off completely so she slowly stopped fighting, giving up to the thought of losing consciousness.

But before she let the pain take control over her body, the last ounce of strength, with a strange premonition she turned her head and to her surprise she saw Regina, who momentarily stopped, opening her mouth with horror.

"Regina…" She croaked and the relief she felt from the brunette's presence made her almost painlessly lose consciousness and fall on the pavement covered with snow.

"No… Emma!" Regina cried and walked briskly toward the lying companion but she stopped at the distance, watching the white haired woman furiously. She raised her hand over which jumped a fireball and growled angrily "What have you done to her!"

"I'm taking her where she belongs." The stranger smiled mockingly and before Regina had time to cast fire on her, she waved her hand and she, together with Emma disappeared in the clouds of white fog and mist, leaving the brunette alone in the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Okay, this is the chapter seven. I hope you will like it. And again, I want to apologize for the long delay but... I found a job, then quit and I'm looking for another... It was quite a mess. Anyway, let me know if you find any mistakes, I try to correct them with the help of my friend but I know there always could be something that is not correct.  
Let's get to the fic, enjoy! xo, Pheebs**_

Elsa didn't know why, pushed by a strange feeling, she decided to go back to the hill where the big barn was. Maybe she subconsciously believed that she would find all the answers she was looking for there? But it doesn't matter why she went there because what was more important to her was finding her sister. When the grass started to give way for dry snow, Elsa felt cold breeze on her neck. Intrigued, she proceed the step and walked around the barn to see a massive ice castle appearing in front of her eyes. Confusingly, it reminded her of the one that she had built when she had run away from Arandelle. But… How was it possible?

_A few hours earlier._

"We're going to have a guest. I hope it will not bother you." The tall woman leaned over a girl sitting on the ice floor. She smiled and stroked her red hair, which lost its former luster and seemed to have a quite cool shade.

The girl nodded dispassionately, engrossed in playing with strange ice puzzles, which she had spread on the floor and now she was trying to piece them together. She started paying attention to the outside world when the massive door slid open with the rumble, forcing her to rise her head. Her eyes fell on a shrunken woman, who barely entered the room, holding her hand pressed to her chest. She stopped after a few steps, falling with a big crush on the floor. She had less strength than before, however she was still able to keep her senses on despite the cold shredded throughout the body. She raised her head and noticed a girl, next to which straightened woman in a white dress stood proudly.

"You… You kidnapped her and kept her closed! This snow... Everything is your fault!" She cried, looking straight into the blue eyes with fury. When she didn't get any answer from her she turned to the teenager, who was still playing with the puzzles "Anna! You're not safe here! Run away while you can!"

The red-haired girl didn't move, completely ignoring Emma's desperate begging. She raised her head, waiting for her mentor's reaction.

"She doesn't know anything yet, but don't worry, soon she will be just like you. You will have someone to spend time with while I'm not there." The stranger said calmly, smiling at her warmly.

"What are you talking about? What… just like her? What is happening here?!" Emma was confused. Slowly, however, things began to fall into one piece, which reached her very quickly. "Wait… This castle… The ice… Anna's condition… You're the Snow Queen."

She almost laughed when she finally understood what was happening. Anna wasn't able to escape, because she was under the Queen's influence, who probably had to put in her the piece of glass or ice, just like it was in the original tale. Emma was thinking how to contact with Regina so she could help them. Instead, she realized something worse in horror.

"I… I'm dying… The whole coolness in my body… When it freezes my heart I'll die…" It wasn't quite a question, but more like a statement, which struck to her with a great force and spread panic in her already exhausted body. She raised her head again and her gaze met the Snow Queen's eyes. She was watching her in silence all the time with a slight smile full of victory.

"Maybe you're dying but you will still stay here. You will be able to live with me for the whole eternity and I will ensure you get everything you could imagine. Let me just take care of you and I will make your pain completely disappear so you don't have to deal with it."

"N-no… I have to disappoint you. You will never have anyone who would spend an eternity with you. At least not willingly. And what kind of life is it if these people are forced to live with you? It will not be real. It will only be an illusion, a lie which you will be creating because you can't live another way."

She was barely able to finish the last sentence, when she felt an invisible grip on her neck which tightened the moment when the Queen raised her hand in exactly the same way like Regina used to do when she was killing her victims. Gasping for breath, she gathered to stand up on her own but it was for nothing. She felt like less and less air came to her lungs and the pain in her chest began to heighten. Then the stranger left her hand and Emma fell on the ground with a crash, taking large portions of oxygen to breath freely.

"Firstly, my dear, don't you dare talk to me like this. Secondly, you don't have to worry about it. Soon you will obey me, your heart just needs to be touched by cold. Enjoy your last minutes of free will."

The woman snorted with laughter and left the great hall, closing the door with a crack. Anna, still mired in the complicated jigsaw puzzle, seemed to completely not care about her strange companion, while Emma somehow managed to get closer to the girl, trying to attempt at conversation. She didn't think that this time something would be different, but she had to do something before she lost all of her strength.

_Present Time._

She approached the massive ice structure with her every step, which was giving a big impression. Every wall, every element has been done with the smallest detail, though around the whole building there was sharpen ice picks reside on the land, broadcasting a raw look. Tiny snow was falling from the sky, lazily collapsing onto the ground and silence defaulting on the hill seemed to be unbroken even by the slightest sound.

Elsa easily avoided every trap and finally reached the double doors. She closed her eyes and raised a hand and an ice lock relented and the gates opened, encouraging the woman to go inside. She didn't hesitate and stepped over the doorstep, slowly moving inside into the frozen hall. She lifted her head and in front of her eyes appeared a huge balcony where a spiral staircase led. Below it, garlands of different kinds were hanging, made of course with ice. From the walls beating cold could be felt, but Elsa wasn't bothered at all. She was closely watching every detail of the décor. Someone definitely had a talent and powers just like hers. And that could mean that Elsa wasn't the only person with such a talent like she thought before. But was it good or not? She didn't know yet.

In one moment she saw a movement on the balcony which she had been watching before. She looked up again, preparing for an unexpected attack but nothing like that happened. Maybe it was just wind or something other than a human being? Elsa cautiously walked over the glassy stairs and slowly started going up, holding her hand raised at the level of her chest just in case, to be ready to react. She stepped carefully down the stairs until she reached the top of it, but still she couldn't see anything which could cause the movement she had seen before. She approached the balustrade where she had the whole view of the first floor and staircase, but there wasn't anything there either.

"Are you looking for me?"

Elsa shuddered at the sound of a strange voice and she quickly turned to come face to face with the Snow Queen, who clearly appeared from nowhere, now standing freely a few meters away from the a woman.

"Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" The tall woman looked surprised, to laugh sarcastically just a while later. "Actually, why would you remember me at all…"

Elsa frowned, while listening to the stranger. Why was she so sure that both of them knew each other from somewhere? She should remember someone who looked so… characteristic. Especially if she was a person with power and created this ice castle. She hesitated over the next words she wanted to say because she wasn't sure what answer she would get. Maybe the woman was playing with her to knock her off and then attack? Or maybe she wasn't thinking about a fight at all… Elsa wasn't sure what she should expect, and that's why she preferred to stay cautious, not only about the stranger's behavior but also her own words.

"You have created this castle?" She asked after a moment of silence, ignoring the question the woman asked before.

"You really think that you're the only one who has this beautiful gift? Oh, my dear Elsa… If only you hadn't grown up with so many lies… Everything would be different…" The woman sighed but her acting was too fake to believe in her intentions.

"How do you know me?" Elsa threw up another question but she guessed that woman would not be willing to answer her. She started to feel more and more anxious, which was unfortunately revealed by tiny snowflakes that appeared around her, swirling and sparkling in the light. She cursed herself, hoping that the stranger would not guess the reason why those little particles had appeared.

"If you had someone who would help you to understand yourself from the beginning, you wouldn't have to show your insecurity through the snow. You would be able to control your emotions while using magic only when you want to. Unfortunately, your father made wrong decisions in his life…"

"My father? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Elsa stepped back, and the snow around her thickened.

"Mothers know what is best for their children. But sometimes, it's not enough… And everything ends tragically." The woman looked away from the frozen walls and her eyes met Elsa's gaze. The younger woman stood confused, completely not knowing what to do.

For a moment, both of them were standing motionless, watching each other in silence. And none of them seemed to know how to continue the conversation. Elsa didn't really understand what the woman was referring to, was it some kind of a play? She verified in the corner of her eye how far she was from the stairs but she already knew that her chances for escaping may be completely equal to zero, because the woman was standing too close to the staircase and she was clearly stronger that her. The queen noticed the movement of the white-haired girl and she only smiled indulgently.

"Relax, you don't have to be afraid. I would never hurt my daughter."

* * *

Regina furiously threw away another book she was browsing in search of answers about the suspicious woman in a white dress. She couldn't find anything that would help to find Emma so her patience was almost on edge. A few hours had passed from the moment when she had been alone on the street and she still hadn't showed up in the town, to tell the Charmings that their daughter had been kidnapped. She had no idea how they would react and she was afraid that they will blame her and she didn't want it, but this irritating thought appearing in her head all the time wasn't quite helpful. She was going to find Emma before midnight without causing unnecessary trouble, so she stayed in her vault, searching for everything she had in sight.

After a couple of minutes she fell resigned on the cold floor, sighing heavily. She still had a feeling that this woman had something to do with Elsa, but she couldn't find any of them, or even track them because she didn't have anything that belonged to them. But one thought, that seemed to be not bad idea was return to the hill, where that malicious barn hadn't wanted to let anyone in besides Emma. But did that have any sense? Regina hated to feel like that. The feeling of being useless, not being able to act to help find a living person. And the worst part of it was that Emma's life could really be in danger. Regina lifted her head, and her eyes fell on the photo where she was with Henry. She couldn't disappoint her son. She couldn't be the reason of his mother's death. She couldn't let Emma be a hostage or god even knows what else.

And then her thoughts wandered to the scene in front of the Granny's. Images from that moment showed in front of her eyes and through she tried to forget about it, she couldn't erase that feeling she had when Emma got close to the mayor and did the least expected thing she could ever do. That was a mistake. Right. However that didn't change the fact that Regina was still analyzing everything that had happened that night. And although she didn't want to admit it to herself, she felt somewhere deep inside that Emma was somehow important to her, and she could trust her. That's why she couldn't give up. She had to once again go to the barn and this time use her magic to find out what the hell is happening.

She got up from the floor, put down books on their place to slowly head on to the exit.


End file.
